


Eren's First

by Kumikoko



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-27 11:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2690651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kumikoko/pseuds/Kumikoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one likes hearing the truth, especially when it's about a girl you thought you knew and loved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eren's First

**Author's Note:**

> I know a lot of people are fans of Annie and to be honest, I can not wrap my head around just /why/ that is, after taking the entirety of the Anime and Manga into consideration, and really detailing, and going into depth with it. 
> 
> However, despite my dislike of Annie, it does not effect the fact that I know when an Anime is pointing to a relationship, and therefore, I can grudgingly accept that yeah, Eren did feel for Annie, very strongly. Actually, I am bewildered as to why there are not more Eren/Annie fanfictions because everything one needs to prove that there /is/ a relationship, or could have been, is all right there in the way Eren so adamantly denied the truth staring him in the face and with how angry he became. 
> 
> If you haven't realized it by now, there may be spoilers throughout this short fanfic, of Eren moping about Annie and how he could never be with her. 
> 
> I do not own these characters.

**Eren's First**

“Hey, Eren?” Armin started tentatively, wanting to gain his best friend’s attention. When Eren failed to respond, and keep his gaze on the window, Armin set his delicate hand on Eren’s shoulder. “Why are you moping? It’s not about Annie, is it?” Armin curiously asked, because he couldn’t remember a time where Eren moped about anything…at least, not since his mother, Carla, was eaten by a titan. Eren’s mopey behavior now was resemblance to that dark time period. 

Flinching upon hearing the female blonde’s name, Eren curled his fingers into a tight fist as a mixture of rage and despair flooded through his green hues. Having his answer, Armin fell silent long enough to think of how to approach a subject like this.

None of the children had had any real experience with heartbreak and rejection from a stranger. They only knew what it was like to lose family, which was an entirely different loss then dreams of being affectionate with a person. Armin didn’t know much about relationships, and certainly not much on heartbreak, but he was sure that in theory, he knew more than Eren and yet he was still at a loss on what to say. The only information Armin had of relationships were from a few fairytales his grandfather read to him in a book, and what people would say, particularly the fellow teenagers around him but he had visual experience too, of woman holding on to a man’s arm as they walked down the street but...there was still a lot that eluded the fifteen year old.

“It is disappointing, but Eren, you know more than any of us that what she did was wrong,” Armin kept his voice quiet, knowing that Eren could snap at him at any moment. “From the very start, Annie _knew_ she was joining the military in order to obtain you and take you away from me, _and_ Mikasa---“ Seeing Eren tremble, Armin knew he was hitting a sore spot within the other boy,---“Annie _knew_ , Eren, she went in _knowing,_ it is not something that _just happened_.” Armin stood next to Eren, from where the teen sat on the windowseal, one foot touching the cold stone, and the other against his chest.

There was no blocking Armin’s soft words out, no matter how hard Eren tried. Eren knew Armin not only had a point, but the kid was right, just as he always was. With that in mind, Eren finally peeled his gaze away from the window seal to show glossy green eyes to the soothing blue lights that always guided him in a better direction.

“Why would she do it?” Eren asked desperately, wanting, needing an answer.

Slowly, Armin shook his head.

“I don’t think anyone knows _why_ but her.” Armin replied tenderly, more than conscious that his best friend was about to cry over a cold-blooded murderer. “You know Annie had time to get to know us and yet she stayed distant, knowing she would betray all of us when the opportunity struck. I suppose that could have been admirable in itself, but the fact of the matter is that she heard our stories, Eren. Over dinner, and in the field, she heard all of our stories, our hopes, and our dreams, and _none_ of that mattered to her. _None_ of it.”

Shuddering, Eren shook his own head, not wanting to believe it, but damn was it true. Armin didn’t lie.

“When Annie spared me, I thought that maybe she had some sort of feeling for me. I romanticized it until I realized that Annie isn’t like that. Annie doesn’t hesitate to kill, except for people who are inferior,” Eren looked as if he would object, but Armin continued, “Annie made a mistake, Eren. Annie thought that because I am the lowest in the class for physical strength next to Krista, that I was not a threat to her, combined with that smashing me would take up too much time.” Armin continued to drive the point home, even though he could tell his best friend was to the point of tears. “Annie didn’t spare me, Eren. Annie passed me by because she didn’t realize I have intelligence. It's not something I avidly portrayed, I suppose, but even when I did, she never bothered to notice, and that’s her mistake. Sparing me was the worst thing she could have done for herself.”

“But…it shouldn’t be this way! We were comrades!” Eren protested, tears trailing down his cheeks now.

“Look, Annie had one goal in mind, from the very start,” Armin lifted his index finger up for emphasis. “Annie’s whole existence here was to capture you.” Armin had to get that through Eren’s head.

“Wait, all of this is my fault?” Eren’s shocked realization made Armin regret his own words. Sitting down on the window seal, Armin knew he had to alleviate this quickly. “No, Eren, it’s not your fault. You said your father would inject you with things. That’s who we place the blame on.” Armin reasoned, just in time to make Eren not believe all of this was on his shoulders.

Narrowing his eyes, Eren stared down at his knee, trying to process the information. “Annie went in knowing she would betray all of us and she did. Not only that, Annie murdered people when she didn’t have to.” Armin continued to slowly point one thing out after the other, making sure Eren was absorbing the information. “Petra didn’t have to die, Eren. None of them did. Annie can’t even claim self-defense because she is so powerful, especially with her hardening ability that none of them, like myself, even posed a threat to her. She killed them because they were just in the way, just little Chihuahua’s at her feet and that in itself is horrific.” Armin reached his hand out and grabbed Eren’s, letting Eren squeeze it tightly.

“No, I thought she was good underneath it all…” Eren set his other hand on his cheek and squeezed his eyes shut, as if trying to hide from the horrible truth. “She’s not good underneath it, Eren. You need to understand this. Who you thought she was and who she is are two entirely different realities.” Armin felt Eren tighten his hold on his hand but didn’t flinch. “If Annie had felt remorse, she could have turned herself in, but she fought, and in the aftermath, many more lives were lost. Those people had wives and children, they had mothers and father’s and best friends like me.”

That last line really hit home, considering how Eren shamelessly started to cry harder.

Why was Armin always so right? The kid really painted a picture.

“Annie didn’t even have the balls to fight until the end. She _ran_. Despite being a soldier, trained to fight, she _ran_ , which was a cowardly move. She couldn’t face you, nor your rage, nor what she did. I have no respect left for her after that, and then she had the nerve to crystalize herself, as if she’s some fairy tale princess when the reality is that she murdered hundreds of people that she didn’t have to. She betrayed people she didn’t have to. If she would have talked to us, I’m sure we could have found a way to help her…” Armin gasped as Eren lunged forwards and wrapped his arms around the thin shoulders. Eren cried on to Armin’s shoulder for the first time.

“I loved who I thought she was…” Eren muttered weakly.

Sighing, Armin wrapped his arms around Eren in a comforting hug.

“I know.”


End file.
